I had several pens inked but none was a Swan so I thought I would amend that. I had a very pretty green marbled pre-war no-number Swan that I hadn’t used in a long time – if ever. I filled it and it was a disaster. The semi-flex nib would only write with pressure and not very well even then. It seemed very likely I would have to strip it down and find out what the trouble was but I thought I would try the soapy water trick first. One drop of Fairy Liquid in a small glass is enough, then a good flush followed by a rinse.

It gave me a good line for a paragraph then reverted to hard start and skip. I disassembled it, reset the nib and widened the nib slit a fraction. Success! It’s a perfect European fine with some flex.

Just skimming through eBay’s new vintage listings this morning and I am overpowered by all the Parkers! Good pens, of course, but so many of them, almost to the exclusion of other old brands. The pens I’m really looking for, the Swans, Mentmores, Summits and Wyverns seem very thin on the ground compared with a few years ago. This isn’t a scientific study, just my impression. We always knew the profusion of old pens couldn’t last forever. Are they tapering off now?

Amusingly, I see Jinhao pens sneaked into the listing simply by adding ‘vintage’ to brand new pens.

I could have sworn I wrote about this pen before. I’ve owned a couple of them and I’ve known the story forever but, no, I didn’t write about it!

If you think of Platignums as cheap and shabby pens this one will come as a surprise. It’s soundly made throughout and it has a good hooded nib, common at the time and perhaps helpful in preventing drying out. The chromed cap was fashionable in the fifties. Altogether a great pen from the house of Mentmore, one would say.

Except that, like the Parker 61 and the Waterman X Pen, it’s a capillary filler. These pens aren’t entirely disasters though their faults were discovered early which affected sales. There are plenty of capillary 61s around but the Platignum 100 and Waterman X Pen are uncommon. All capillary fillers are hard to flush. I would go so far as to say that the Platignum and Waterman are utterly impossible to flush to clean water, so whatever ink you begin with you’d better like, because you’ll have to continue with it – unless you like strange unintended mixtures.

I haven’t found a good explanation but Mentmore must have come to some arrangement with Waterman (or maybe they hoped Waterman wasn’t looking) as the Platignum is very similar to the Waterman patent. Capillary fillers work well enough, to a point. Attempts at flushing will revive them for a time but ultimately the capillary material will grow tired and hold less and less ink. So this isn’t a vintage everyday writer; more a historical document in steel and plastic. Every collector should have one of these: the British capillary pen! This one’s a splendid example with box and papers.

Thanks to Penny at stillmorestuff. Item is here: https://rb.gy/kknnau

I’ve been presented with a free review copy of this book. Though I am extremely grateful to receive it – I would have had to buy it anyway – those of you who have read my previous book reviews will know that I will not be influenced by that and in any case it wasn’t the authors’ intentions that I should be influenced in any way.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the book. Anyone with an interest in British pens will know of, and probably own, Stephen Hull’s previous works and Andy Russell’s volume on the Conway Stewart Dinkie. Those glorious works should make us expect that this book will be at least as good. I can assure you that it doesn’t disappoint. All sections are well and clearly written and profusely illustrated.

This isn’t the kind of book you sit down and read from cover to cover. One will dip into sections as unknown or rare pens appear. For Instance, I began by looking at The Fleet Pen and Ormiston & Glass Ltd, companies I had come across before, and, indeed, written about here. I had been unable to find much detail or context in my other reference works or on the Internet but I found both here in great quantity. The depth and breadth of the research that has gone into the work is most impressive.

I think it is also worth saying that this is a book for the desk or table. It’s a mighty tome! Including the index it is 364 pages long, printed on heavy, high quality glazed paper. I do have a couple of small, person al criticisms of the style of the book. Indeed, they’re hardly more than quibbles. The colour of the main text lacks contrast and makes reading rather demanding for someone like me with poor eyesight. The choice of a sans serif font doesn’t help that.

I was particularly interested in the British Carbon Papers pens, Rosemary and National Security. I knew that Henry Stark, Son & Hamilton was involved and I took them to be the manufacturers but it now appears that The Lang Pen Company Ltd. were making pens for both companies. The complexity of relationships between companies, and indeed families, is something that appears again and again in this book. The English pen industry appears to have been a tangle of competition and co-operation.

Another thing that leapt out from the beautiful colour illustrations (do I see Andy Russell’s hand here?) is the popularity of the stylograph. In the years up to the early twenties so many were advertised that it seemed possible that they would become the main writing instrument. Many companies produced them and famous people chose to use them. Kearney’s Red Dwarf was the market leader for a time.

I had Whytwarth pens on several occasions so they were of especial interest to me. Again, I was not to be disappointed. Like some of the Fleet pens the Whytwarth was sent out unsolicited on a “sale or return” basis. Throughout much of its history the company’s mainstay was the wonderfully-named Thirza Cahalan. As I know from experience, these were impressive pens and despite financial troubles they remained in production for many years, eventually becoming the Valentine Whytwarth.

These are a few tasters. There is so much more I could say but I’m conscious that the article is more likely to be read if I keep it brief. I haven’t mentioned the introductory pages that put early fountain pen production in context. There is a wealth of information here that will keep collectors talking for years.

The book will be on sale shortly at englishpenbooks.co.uk.

Once in a while an exceptional pen appears in eBay. Just such a pen is this beautiful – and very uncommon – Conway Stewart Dinkie Major.

The Major is larger than the ordinary Dinkie. That makes it a little more practical and easier to write with.

The pen was made around 1931 and is the 640 model. The glorious pattern is green, black and bronze on a red ground.

Thanks to Paul (acetateblue). The auction is here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305459193192

Thanks also to Andy Russell: 50 Years of the Dinkie, 1922 to 1972.

The second of April will be an exciting day for British pen fanciers (and others) as the eagerly-awaited Smaller English Pen Makers 1890 – 1930 by Stephen Hull and Andy Russell goes on sale then.  I have been given a pre-publication copy and can report that it is a beautiful book, well organised and illustrated but it is the information that the authors have garnered that make this volume a must for every pen collector’s bookshelf.  So often have I found pens that are not mentioned in my other reference books or on the internet.  A great many of them are here and it makes fascinating reading.  It’s another triumph for englishpenbooks.co.uk.

Yet another pen that I know very little about but it’s a beauty and well worth including here. From the general appearance and the ‘k’ for carat I take it that the Presto is American. It shows quite a resemblance to a 1930s Waterman with its rivetted clip, flat top and complex feed. In all, a very handsome pen.

We are left to wonder how a pen that wasn’t well-known even in its country of origin made it here. The larger pen companies like Parker, Sheaffer and Eversharp had agents or outlets here. Not Presto, though, so far as I am aware.

Thanks to Nigel Simpson-Stern (treasurer of The Writing Equipment Society). Link to the auction: https://rb.gy/lsgzem

Often on a Saturday or Sunday I’ll have a look at the eBay listings and I’ll find a rarity or oddity to share and write about. Not today. There was nothing I hadn’t written about before. All the usual things: relatively modern Parkers, boxes of dip nibs and uninteresting collections of cheap pens.

There was one I considered writing about, an attractive and less common pen, but what put me off was that the seller photographed the pen in his hand. Why not just lay the pen down on a suitable background? I find the inclusion of a hand in the photograph distracting and annoying and it doesn’t show the pen off in the best way.

There’s quite a bit to photographing pens for sale. You need good light, a background that doesn’t distract and a camera capable of good close work. People want to see good shots of the whole pen, capped and uncapped and close-ups of such things as the clip, lever if it has one and especially the nib. What you don’t want is a grabby hand that says, “This is my pen and you can’t have it!”

My friend Michael Dunn believed he had won this pen until it was snatched away in the last second of the auction. He saved the pictures for me. They’re not perfect, being oddly cropped and with an unfortunate background but they’re enough to show the glowing colours.

The Popular Prince is a Mentmore sub-brand and was made in 1926. The prince referred to was to become, briefly, Edward VIII. He was, indeed, very popular.

Though I was aware of its existence I haven’t seen this pen before. It must be quite rare.

Thanks to Michael Dunn and Stephen Hull: The English Fountain Pen Industry 1875 – 1975

With a single exception I have had poor luck with John Bull pens. This was partly the luck of the draw and partly that their quality was variable. My one really good John Bull was an eyedropper filler which I wrote about here some years ago.

This is a later pen, 1925 – 30 at a guess, and in nice order. There’s a bump on one of the cap bands and if that’s the worst that’s happened to a pen in almost a century that’s pretty good.

I’m assuming that this is celluloid with a chasing pattern in memory of its hard rubber predecessors.

There has been much discussion about the manufacture of John Bull pens, most of it ill-informed. It has been asserted that the pens were assembled at the company address from parts made elsewhere. The manufacture of the pens has been attributed to Conway Stewart, Mabie Todd and De La Rue – all without a shred of evidence. Looking back over the last 15 years or so, I’ve probably added to that myself.

In any case, this appears to be an enviable John Bull with its replacement warranted gold nib which has a European provenance. It would have had a 14ct warranted nib originally.

Many thanks to Alex of antiqueendeavors. Listing is at https://rb.gy/y6c286